There exists many different techniques for image segmentation, which refers to the partitioning of a digital image into multiple segments in order to provide an image that is more meaningful or easier to analyze. Objects and boundaries in the image, such as lines, curves, and others, are located and enhanced using shared pixel characteristics, such as color, intensity, or texture. Bones, cartilage, ligaments, and other soft tissues of the body thus become identifiable by the trained eye.
However, segmentation can prove difficult when the image data comprises contiguous structures, such as cartilage. Indeed, the cartilage of a first bone may tend to blend with the cartilage of a second bone contiguous to the first bone without any clear and distinct boundary or transition. As a result, difficulty arises in segmenting cartilage of contiguous structures in an image.
There is therefore a need to improve on existing segmentation techniques.